Skin Deep
by sakiya
Summary: A story I thought of where I changed one small thing and then made it very dramatic. Its about how Ino's life would be like if she were neglected. SasukeIno rated t for language renamed on hiatus
1. what everyone thinks

_WHAT EVERYONE THINKS…_

Everyone thinks that Ino is pretty, smart, and happy. The truth is she hates life, thinks she's an idiot, and doesn't like how she looks. At first she was really all those things but isn't anymore. Her mother died when she turned ten. They came home to see her mother slumped over in a wooden chair. Grasped between her fingers was a glass that was dripping red liquid into the puddle that was slowly growing in size on the floor. Just as they saw her, the glass slipped out of her cold grasp and shattered. She was poisoned. Ino's father didn't take this well. He cleared out all the cabinets and the fridge. Then replaced the food and began working more to avoid coming home. Ino knew it was because she reminded him of her mother. She started taking it out on things like the wall and her flesh. She didn't cut her hair because her mom had short hair, and it would force her dad away even more.

After hearing the team she was on, she flinched slightly at a burning sensation she couldn't place. Later on she ate lunch, meet her sensei (refused to talk about herself), and went home. She untied her headband and pulled it off her waist. Then, she flung it at the full body mirror in her room. The mirror broke into a million pieces and some fell to the floor. She gingerly picked up a large triangle of sharp glass, took the white sleeve off her left arm, and studied it.

Scars and fresh cuts spread across her pale skin like little spider webs. She stared at her arm before suddenly hacking at the flesh, opening old wounds and making new ones. She stopped herself and stared out the window at the sky as warm liquid slid down her arm and dropped onto her white carpet. It was a symbol of life and she let it go so easily. No wonder she felt so weak sometimes. She didn't care at all. She dropped the bloody piece of glass onto her carpet too. Putting the white sleeve on again, she walked downstairs to the flower shop and tied on a bright yellow apron. She flipped over the **open **sign and busied her self with watering and arranging the plants.

There was a note on the cash register that said she only had to work three hours today instead of five. She sat at the stool behind the bar and waited.

**_Three hours later_**

Only two women stopped by to day to pick up orders for a party. Ino sighed when the clock beeped telling her that it was time to close. She stood from the stool and flipped the sign back to **closed**. She took off the apron and left the building, remembering to lock the door of the shop. As she slinked down the street she suddenly felt alone. She bolted down the street out of the business district. She jumped onto the room of a building. A deserted building she always went to.

She sat on her knees and leaned herself over the side. One arm was folded under her chest and the other was hanging uselessly. She could feel the blood sliding slowly down her arm. It rolled off her finger and hit into the ally below. Which wasn't a long way down because the building was halfway underground. Her eyelids drifted, she hadn't slept in about two days. Her eyes snapped open again when she felt a hand touch her bloody knuckles. Looking down she saw Uchiha Sasuke.


	2. small talk

_Looking down Ino saw Uchiha Sasuke. _

Ino stared down at him. He had blood on his cheek. Hers. She retracted her arm and turned to sit with her back resting on the edge. She thought it might be a good idea to leave. But he would probably leave. _Right_?

_Wrong_. His shadow cast across her. She tried to ignore him. Well, that plan was totally dissolved when he picked up her bloody arm. He took off the sleeve and started looking at it. After about five minutes she felt his piercing gaze move up to her face.

"Why do you do this?" Sasuke asked flatly. She retracted her arm again and answered, "Because I can." Ino opened her eyes and saw him crouching in front of her. She took her sleeve, pulled it over her painful flesh, and walked over to the opposite side of the building and was about to jump down when she turned and said, "You know there's blood on your face." It was a statement, not a question. He wiped his face with his clean hand while watching her. Ino jumped into the ally and took a shortcut to the back of her shop. She jumped up to her window sill, opened it, and slipped in onto her bed.

She slid it closed and pulled the curtains, not knowing that she just gave her room away to a certain Uchiha. Ino swept up the pieces of the mirror and threw them away. She then grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom. Her mother used to say that a bath cleansed the mind and soul. Long baths were useless. Ino preferred showers. The heavy pressure water that poured down on her relaxed her tensed shoulders. She flinched as the burning water touched her arm.

Ino got out, dressed for bed and slumped into the kitchen. She ate some ramen and went up stairs to bed.


	3. changeing

thx for the reviews you guys! I appreciate it! Oh and so you know this about a week after Ino and Sasuke met.

* * *

Ino woke up bright and early about five a.m. She looked it the mirror that was in the bathroom. Some girl with long pale blonde hair looked back at her. She squinted her aquamarine eyes at the reflection. She went into the kitchen and grabbed a kunai off the table. Then she slinked back into the bathroom and grabbed all her hair with her left hand.

Ino sliced cleanly through the golden locks with the blade and let them fall to the floor. She made it reach her shoulders, and then she pined it up with black chopsticks. Ino walked back into her room and pulled out some clothes. Black leggings that went to mid-thigh, er, one leg of it went to mid-thigh. The other leg was like shorts. Then the long one had a fishnet that went to the knee. Okay, enough about the leggings.

Ino picked a purple tank top that had a turtle neck and was almost navy. It was similar to her other one except it was tighter and didn't have that flap thingy. She covered her upper body with body wrap then pulled the tank top on. She went to look in the full body mirror but stopped herself, remembering what happened yesterday.

Ino picked up her forehead protector and unfolded it. But instead of tying it to her head she tied it to her waist. It hung down like a skirt. She pulled two dark purple fingerless gloves over her arms. Walking out of the flower shop she put on her zori. Then remembering, she bolted upstairs again, grabbed some linen bandages and her holster, and put them on her bare thigh. _Then _she left.

Ino got there first and waited. Farther off in one direction she saw a soda machine. Ino had skipped breakfast so an orange soda wouldn't kill. Inserting two coins into the slot, she hit the button next to the tape that read, _Orange-aid._ Ino picked up the tin can out of the drop bin and popped the tab. Sipping on the highly caffeinated drink she went back to the training grounds and plopped her self down on the ground.

"Hey Ino! I've been looking everywhere for you! Asuma said to meet him at the Hokage's tower for a mission," Shikamaru said lazily. Ino jumped up and fallowed her worthless teammate. They met Chouji at the entrance and went farther in to meet Asuma. The foursome walked up to the Hokage's room and entered.

"Oh, well, now. What D class mission do we have for you? Now there's some. We have weeding, helping the minister's wife shop, and locating a pet," The hokage said, shuffling through some papers. Ino exchanged glances with her team and answered, "The last one."

"Okay, here," the hokage said handing them a paper with a photo paperclipped to it. It was a dog. They walked out of the room and started down the hall when they saw team seven. Naruto was holding a cat and was covered in claw marks. Ino made brief eye contact with Sasuke while the teams passed each other.

The dog only recently ran away. They went to the place it was last seen and managed to track it to the center of the forest. After three hours, Ino and Shikamaru were chasing the dog with Chouji behind them. Ino tackled the dog the same time Shikamaru went to. Ino had her arms wrapped around the huge dog's neck with Shikamaru on the ground behind her. She tied a rope to the dog's collar to make a leash. Shikamaru stood and dusted off his clothes.

Ino and her team lead the dog back to the Hokage tower and passed it off its owner. Ino walked back to start her backbreaking job at the flower shop. But tomorrow she was off and the shop would be closed. She smiled to herself and flipped the sign to **open **and began to work. She heard the bell of the door ring. Ino turned to say hello to the customer but froze when she saw a certain black haired boy.


	4. smiles and sparing

Ino turned to say hello to the customer but froze when she saw a certain black haired boy.

Uchiha Sasuke stood in the doorway. He continued in and shut the door behind him. Ino noticed that he had on a blue backpack. A slight smile was on his face. At this Ino smirked, Sasuke _never_ smiled.

"You should smile more, it confuses people," Ino said from the register. He smirked. "You should smile more, it'll keep people off you case," his voice reached her ears. She knew what it was about. She also hated how he twisted her words like that.

"What do you care?" Ino asked, trying to busy herself with arranging a vase full of orchids, not noticing a certain pink haired girl outside the window. "I want to make sure you-"he started but was cut off by…

"SASUKE!" yelled Sakura. She was standing in the doorway looking pissed. "Why are you here? I-I mean we have to leave in a few minutes," she added the last part to hide her jealousy. Ino sniffed a laugh; but it was unsuccessful. Both Sasuke and Sakura looked at her. She turned her back and continued to move the flowers, still listening.

"I'm here cause I wanna be," Sasuke said. Sakura didn't reply. Ino heard them leave; she also heard bits of their conversation. "So Sasuke, are you excited about the mission?" "Hn"

Later, Ino closed the store and walked up the street. She spotted a store. She walked in and started looking around. Most of the stuff was pink. Ino _hated _pink. She didn't know why. It was either because it was too girly or it was the color of Sakura's hair.

Ino went into a different store. She picked out some clothes and paid. Then she went out to eat at a sushi bar. When she went home she cleaned the kitchen and the living room then walked upstairs slowly. She picked up her lab top and waited while it loaded. She had saved up her allowance and the pay she received as a genin to buy it.

She logged on to her account on myspace and clicked on the bulletin that read "Sasuke is gone." It said that Sasuke had left on a mission. It was also signed by all of Sasuke's fan girls that had read it. Ino deleted it. Ino surfed for a while and went to bed.

The next morning she got up, showered, and got dressed in black shorts and a loose tank top. She gathered her weapons, braided her hair, and went into the forest to train. She walked on the main road that ran through the forest, turning after a little bit. She pushed past a bush to step onto a now well worn path. After a bit of walking she came to her training spot. It wasn't a secret, she just never told anyone. She meditated, stretched and began practicing her taijutsu. After that she molded chakra with a simple jutsu. Finally she threw weapons at a target she had hanging from a tree branch.

The way she saw it, when on a mission, your target isn't going to stay perfectly still like the ones most ninja's practiced with. When the weapon hit her target it swung a little bit. After four long hours of training she lied down in the grass for a breather. Her chest rose and fell as she breathed heavily. Finally she forced herself up and focused her chakra into her feet. Then she walked up a tree and quickly picked some apples, knowing that her chakra was almost gone. When she fell she landed skillfully on her feet.

Ino ate the apples and drank water before lying down for a little nap. In her dream she was floating on her back in an ocean. But the water was red, like blood. She was pulled under by a current and couldn't get back to the top. She tasted blood.

Ino shot up, breathing quickly. She could really taste blood. She started going to strange conclusions but then realized that it was from her nosebleed. She wiped it off with the back of her hand. Then she then jumped to her feet and started doing laps on the slightly visible path she had run on before. She ran thirty laps then stopped for more water. The sun was slowly setting. It was the end of August and the sunsets and sunrises were always smeared with too much color. She gathered her weapons and slowly walked back home. When she got there she dropped her weapons on her floor after closing the door, then she took off her shoes and fell into bed on top of the covers, too exhausted to do anything but fall asleep.

Ino woke up the next day and readied herself for whatever mission she had. She had set up a schedule. Get up, go on a mission or train with the team, go home, work at the shop, train alone, go home, eat dinner and go to bed. Then it just started over again. She stuck to the schedule for the next couple of weeks.

**_38 ½ days later_**

Ino went to her training ground. This time she ran first, stretched, and practiced chakra molding. She was about to start taijutsu when she heard a voice.

"Want to spar?"

Ino turned and saw Sasuke. He was just standing there. "Umm…sure, just don't go easy on me," Ino answered him. He smiled like he did back in the flower shop. They positioned themselves opposite of each other in fighting stance. Ino charged at him. He dodged her roundhouse kick, grabbed her ankle, and flipped her over his shoulder.

She stood and kicked his side. He quickly recovered and went to kick her. She dodged and rolled when he went to kick her while she was down. This kind of fighting continued until they were wiped. Ino pulled a box of dango out of her bag. She offered one to him. While they ate Ino rubbed her ankle where he grabbed her in the beginning.

When they were finished, Ino asked, "What to continue with weapons?"

"Hn"

"I'm going to take that as a yes," Ino said pulling out a kunai. They charged at the same time. She cut his cheek and he cut her left shoulder. She roundhouse kicked him and he easily knocked her down. She backed up and started showering him with needles and kunai. Most hit his arms. His head was low. She stopped for a second. When he looked up his eyes were crimson. She stumbled back and fell. He was in front of her in a flash.

He offered his hand to help her up. She took it. His eyes were back to onyx. He had seen the fear in her eyes when she had seen his. She was now helping put a band-aid on his cheek, totally unaware of the groups of fan girls, including Sakura, hiding in the bushes and trees. She stood, "Well bye, I need to go home." "To your family?" "Actually, my dad's on a three day mission, I'm all alone," she turned and murmured, "It's not like it makes a difference." She walked slowly back home. On her way back she was nearly killed by a HUGE group of fan girls that were yelling something about taking _their_ Sasuke.

She went to bed after a brief dinner.


	5. chapter 5: Sasuke and Ino!

Me: Yes! I got reviews! I got reviews! I GOT REVEIWS!

Angel me: don't you think you making Sasuke a little Occ?

Devil me: Shud up! She's the writer…she could put him in a tutu if she wanted!

Neutral me (Angel/Devil combined): but I think that would make readers freak out and possibly stop reading.

All three alternate mes: RIGHT?

Me: (still Gawking over reviews) what?

Angel me: stop this madness make Sasuke hate Ino again-AHHHHHHHHH

Devil me: (Tackles Angel) NO I like this story

Angel me: (screaming from under devil's butt) it's the right order of things and-

Devil me: (beats angel to a pulp) but it's a story, it's not like it's going to happen in the show…besides I came up with the idea

Neutral me: now I see why Me is cruel to her sister No _YOU _didn't, _WE _did. Anyway (To ME) shouldn't you be writing the next chapter?

Me: (staring at computer screen) reviews…

Neutral me: (Sweat drops anime style) uhh… it'll get more reviews

Me: (surrounded by stars and little twinkly things) LET'S DO THIS THING

Devil me: Now on with the show (Narrowly avoids getting hit with a pencil ME threw)

Me: YEAH! (Flinging office junk Pencils, notebooks, I-pod, among other things)

* * *

Ino sorted the roses. She put the last red rose in the bucket. Then she arranged them to make them look pretty. She started with the yellow ones. As soon as she picked up the first one, she looked out the window. She saw some girls staring back at her with the same feeling as the rose between her fingers,

_Jealousy._ (A/N: In the Japanese culture a yellow rose represents jealousy, being jealous, or hatred.) Ino finished up with the rose display and started to water the plants. She turned when Sasuke ran into the flower shop, shut the door, and dived behind a rack of potted plants. A group of fan girls ran past the flower shop window.

He stood when he thought it was safe. "Try hiding somewhere they wouldn't look," Ino said, continuing to water a potted plant. "Like here?" "Yeah but they come here often to get you gifts, your going to have to find a new one," she said over her shoulder. "Yeah, I know, but it's like…" he started. "They knocked you unconscious and planted a tracking device in your left ass-check," Ino finished his sentence. He was directly behind her, "Really?" how close he was made her drop the watering can.

She cleaned it up quickly and turned to face him. He was a bit taller than her and she had to look up a little. "Uhh, I think that's what they did," she said. He smirked and left. The minute he was down the street, Sakura came bursting in.

"What the HELL do you think your doing training with MY Sasuke?" She said glaring at her. "Well, it was only training, not like a date or anything," Ino replied. "Stay away from him, or else!" Ino smirked, "Or what? What's a weak, love obsessed kunochi like you going to do?" Sakura opened her mouth but closed it again when Ino checked her watch, pushed her out the door and said, "Shop's closed!"

Ino left the shop after switching the sign over. She went home, changed and went to her training spot, only to see Sasuke waiting for her. "Wanna spar again?"

_Three hours latter…_

Ino rested flat on her back. She was wiped. "What's the matter? Normally you're trying to kick my ass or something," Sasuke said with a smirk. "It's nothing, I-I just didn't get enough sleep last night," she answered, sitting up and yawning.

"OH," he said, spacing out. He turned to see her asleep against a willow tree. They were a lot farther in the forest because Ino had insisted on backing further and further into the forest while they were fighting. He sighed. Soon he was jumping towards the village with her on his back, how he figured it; they were a good half hour away from the village. Her wrists were tied together around his neck and his hands were holding her thighs up so she wouldn't fall back and choke him.

It felt like she was glompping him. She smelled good; like flowers. The one he thought she smelled like the most was the lotus. It was a light, sweet smell. He had to focus on jumping from one tree branch to another.

As soon as they got back to their normal training grounds, he lightly shook her awake. She didn't open her eyes. He dug in his pack and dripped a small amount of water from his water bottle onto her check. Her eyes shot open. She stood up and wiped her cheek. Then Ino stood on tip toe and stretched lazily. "We're back on the training ground?" she stated but it sounded more like a question. "Yeah," Sasuke said, untying her hands.

She picked up her bag, "Well, see you tomorrow!" she waved goodbye and turned quickly to hide her burning cheeks. Lucky for him, she didn't see his face. He figured out why she wasn't on his team. They were both very excellent ninjas, her skill rivaled his own, and that's exactly why they _weren't._ The teams were divided with a top ninja, a medium ninja, and a low ninja. If he were on her team it would mess up the entire genin system.

Ino walked back to her house, ate dinner, and fell into bed. Ruff day and she had no idea what happened while she was out cold. 'Ah, no! Sasuke's not a perv… or at least, I hope he's not…" Ino thought as she snuggled under the comforter.

The next morning Ino got up and took a shower. But in the middle of the burning hot shower, she turned the knobs to where only icy cold water poured over her. She got out and walked directly out of the bathroom, butt naked, to her room; that was right next to the bathroom. She pulled on her clothes; black shorts and a white tank top over a mush long sleeved shirt. It was her day off. She looked at the contents of the open drawer in front of her. She barley wore skirts anymore.

She noticed as she tied her hair up that she was getting a little darker. She couldn't believe that she was once pale. She pulled on a pair of fingerless gloves that were black.

She left after eating a brief breakfast; a cup of milk and a banana. She reached the training grounds to see Sasuke meditating. She snuck up behind him and grabbed his shoulders. He jumped when she did so. "Hey, I have an idea, fallow me." She led him to a rather large cliff. As he looked up at it, he knew what she wanted to do. They started off next to each other. She easily found holes to stick her hands and feet in. Sasuke relied on small ledges. It only got harder as they went up; He was a little ahead of her. When they reached the top they sat with their feet dangling. They drank water. Then they went back down. Ino pulled two weight harnesses out of her pack. They put them on and loaded on the weights. Ino had 100 pounds; Sasuke decided to push it with 120.

The climb up was much longer than normal; and harder. Ino reached the top first but just barley and when she did, she could barely move anymore. Sasuke lay down with his feet dangling. "Let's…go…spar," Ino said in between heavy breaths. "Okay, but as long as we can ditch these weights," Sasuke said taking off his harness. Ino took off hers too then she dropped it down where her bag was.

The climb down was easy since they lost the weights. Then they started sparring. Sasuke was more tired than her because of how much strain he put on his body before. It all ended with Sasuke flat on his back with Ino sitting on his chest and stomach. "You shouldn't push yourself that hard, if it makes you weaker later on. That could be fatal on the battle field," she said shifting so that she wasn't looking at him through her legs. He thought about what she said and said the first thing that came to mind.

"Hey, Ino?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you please get off me, your hurting me," he said looking up at the blonde girl who immediately got off and sat next to him. After about twenty minutes, Ino jumped up suddenly. Sasuke was amazed because she barely had any more strength than he did at that point. She stretched again. It was very close to two in the afternoon. "I'm going to go and start working at the flower shop." She walked off slowly; still in pain.

Within a few minutes she was back in the flower shop tying on the yellow apron. She began watering more plants. A few women came in and bought flowers. She looked out the corner of her eye when the bell rang for the forth time that hour. She saw a certain white eyed girl.

"Hello, Hinata-Chan," Ino said smiling. "U-um, I came to get that order of flowers that I-I asked for," the shy girl said, fidgeting.

"Of course," Ino said pulling a long rectangle box out from under the counter. She opened it and said, "One second," as she went around gathering flowers. She placed twelve roses, six red and six white, and three white carnations in the box. Then she closed it and tied a ribbon around the box.

"Here you go," she handed the box to Hinata, who paid and left. Ino closed the shop after an hour of doing nothing but watering plants. When she got home she looked in the mirror. Her hair was the same length as Sakura's, which was still pretty long. She started cutting her hair again.

_Sasuke likes girls with long hair. If I cut it maybe he won't think I'm a fan girl and take me more seriously._ Now her hair only reached her chin. She tied it up like a ponytail. Her hands shook a bit as they picked up the short, discarded locks that were on the floor. She boiled some water and made ramen. When it was done she put it in a black bowl and got a pair of chopsticks out of the drawer.

Ino read out of an earth scroll in between putting noodles in her mouth. When she was little and thought she wasn't getting stronger, her mother told her that she wasn't weak, she just hadn't found her strength. She couldn't master wind or lightning, her water skills were okay, and she just started earth; she hadn't even tried fire yet.

She finished, cleaned out the bowl, and headed out with her scroll. She had had enough time to regain her strength so she went to try a new jutsu. Ino ran all the way to the training grounds. She started to focus her chakra to her fists, and then she preformed some hand seals, saying them in her mind as she did to focus better: Boar, horse, tiger, serpent, boar, ox.

She slammed her hand into the ground after saying, "Earth element; Earth dragon!" she watched as mud formed into a dragon. The dragon melted back into the ground without a sound. She then tried another jutsu. "Earth Element: Earthquake Fist!" the chakra that spread from the hand she place on the ground was enough to make cracks appear on the ground and shake furiously.

Sasuke, who was asleep in the tall grass about ten feet away, woke up. He jumped up and fell back because of the shaking of the ground. Ino was crouching in front of him. She lifted her hand from the ground.

"Guess I'm good at earth related jutsus," she said out loud. She froze when he said, "Guess so." She turned around. "Have you tried fire?" he asked shoving his hands in his pockets. "No," she answered, standing. "I'll show you one," he said turning away from the field. Ino fallowed him.

He led her to a lake. Her preformed a series of hand seals and said, "Fire release; Great fireball technique!" A huge blast of fire exited his mouth, leaving Ino stunned. Sasuke turned and preformed the hand signs more slowly so she could see. Ino tried. She managed a small flame blast.

* * *

Me: there are you happy now?

Devil/Neutral me: YES!

Devil me: you're making him teach her that Jutsu?

Me: yes, what's the big deal?

Neutral me: that jutsu represents adult hood in the Uchiha clan!

Devil me: YEAH!

Neutral me: wait, where's Angel?

Devil me: Uhh….

(Three hundred miles away)

Angel me: (Wakes up in tub of ice) what the hell?

(Back here)

Devil me: uhhh……..remember to review!


	6. chunin exam or the begining

Me: HI GUYS! Thanks for reviewing, it made my day! 

Angel: (appears out of nowhere and points at devil) why did you do that?

Devil: because you were interfering!

Neutral: _how_ did you do that?

Devil: you know that guy from _Saw_?

All: yeah

Devil: well, he owed me one

Angel: (Screaming) you didn't have to do that! You are making me so MA-

Neutral: (Cuts in) Angel, did you stop drinking coffee?

Angel: (twitch) maybe…

Me: O-O Okay, my sister did that. She claims it kills

Neutral: I'm sick of you!

Me: ME?

Neutral: Yes! You don't put any of the chapters in your notebook!

Me: I have the final chapter in my notebook!

Devil: Which you threw out the window.

Me: And I'm basically making it up till the- WHAT?

Devil: You…threw…your…notebook…out…the…window.

ME: (Jumps out the window) NOOOO!

Neutral: (sweatdrops anime style) I read that chapter

Devil: is it cheesy?

Neutral: not really, but …

Angel: (covers her mouth) Don't tell us!

Devil: You guys up for writing the chapter?

Angel: Sure

Neutral: why not

* * *

Ino had been making progress in the fire jutsu. However the next day Sasuke pushed her in the lake.

Ino stood up and pointed a finger at Sasuke. "Why did you push me in?" "Because it's funny," he replied with a snicker. Ino face away from him and rung the front of her shirt out. He noticed a tattoo on the back of her left hip.

It was of a rose and a dagger. His left eyebrow went up. What was a twelve year old doing with a tattoo? He was so absorbed in his thoughts he didn't see her coming until her hand made contact with his cheek. He stumbled back. "What was that for?"

"Well, one, pay back; and two, you were just standing there gawking at something," she answered sitting down in front of him. He smirked at her use of the word _something._

Ino smirked after their staring contest ended. She stretched. "I'm gonna go home," she turned around and started running back to her house. She yawned when she got there. The sun was setting. She ran all the way up to her room and sat down. She held up her arm. The scars looked weird in the fading light. She climbed up into her window and let her legs dangle. She closed her eyes and leaned on the side of the window sill.

Ino crawled out and climbed up the wall of her house. The bricks were worn and uneven; making it easy to climb. She reached the roof and lay down on the hammock. There were different potted plants around the roof. Her mother loved the roof and so did Ino.

_**Next day**_

Ino woke early the next day; the sun wasn't even up yet. She packed all her weapons into her backpack, took a shower, and started getting dressed. She wrapped bounds around her middle, chest, and arms. Then she put on black leggings, a fishnet shirt, and a black sweatshirt. She pulled her zori on and swung her backpack over her shoulder. She hooked a pouch on the back of her leggings and grabbed an apple on her way out. Stopping halfway down the street, she turned back and ran into her house; grabbing her chunin application and headband. As she left her house she noticed Sakura.

"Hi, Sakura," Ino said, _trying_ to be nice. "Hi," Sakura answered bitterly. "What no cheerful greeting," Ino asked sarcastically. "Those greetings are only for my friends. You're my rival. We both want Sasuke's heart," Sakura said walking.

At this Ino burst out laughing, "Oh come now, cherry head, being a kunochi is about becoming stronger, protecting people you love, and obeying orders. NOT about impressing the opposite sex." Ino managed to stop laughing enough to say that. Then she took off running.

Her team managed into the exam without many problems. She somehow kept her sanity during Kabuto's little 'show'. After watching Naruto make a fool out of himself, she sat in her spot.

The paper exam started…

* * *

Me: hey!

Devil: you survived the fall out the window?

Me: yeah, I landed on some surfer dude.

Angel: really?

Me: but he was like forty…you guys wrote the chapter?

Neutral: yes we did…did you find your notebook?

ME: its so short!

Devil: you know she has a lack of focus

Neutral: yeah I'm starting to notice that.

Angel: hey if you readers go to our profile, you'll find a link to a pic we found! YEAH!


	7. fear

Me: hey guys I decided to make a few time skips after Sasuke leaves instead of a sequel. I'm pretty sure you guys don't want to look for the sequel anyway (sweatdrops anime style). And as you can tell, I HATE the Sasuke and Sakura pairing…

Neutral: sorry to interrupt your speech…but where are Angel and Devil?

Me: I knocked them unconscious because they were on my back about stupid stuff like boys

Neutral: O-Okay, where were you?

Me: I went to the fair!

Neutral: the forth of July one?

Me: (starts to ramble on and on and on…and on)

Neutral: (sweatdrops anime style) lets get on with the story…

ME: 'kay

_

* * *

The paper exam started…_

Ino scanned the page. She soon realized what the test was about. She could easily see Chouji, Shikamaru, and Sakura from her seat. She really had to look for Sasuke. He was sitting a little far back behind her.

Ino got bored waiting for Sakura to write the answers. She pulled her headband from her pocket and tied it sideways on her head (Like the way Zabuza wore his). At one point she got so bored that she started examining her purple nails. Finally she started the hand signs for her jutsu.

Sasuke noticed when Ino suddenly fell forwarded. She looked like she was sleeping. He had once heard about the Yamanka mind altering jutsu and he was pretty sure she was using it to cheat.

Ino memorized the answers on Sakura's paper and switched back to Chouji's body to write them down. After writing the answers on both her teammates' papers she went back to her own body. Her chakra was getting really low. She folded her arms and tried to even out her breathing. She wrote down what she could remember before it completely faded from her mind.

Within the next twenty minutes they were standing in front of the "Forest of death". They accepted their heaven scroll and started. Their gate was next to the river so Ino set up a plan. She dug in her backpack and pulled out three water canteens. She gave them to Chouji along with Shikamaru's and told him to fill them with water. She told Shikamaru to fish while she looked for fruit. Ino left after giving the scroll to Shikamaru. She didn't want to be alone in the forest with a scroll.

Ino had wandered far from camp. She struck some luck and found a lot of apples, bananas, and mangos. She was looking through a bush. For some reason she didn't care if any body saw her, its no like she had the scroll or anything. She was bent over, basically out of view, when she heard the voice of one Hyyuga Neji. (A/n: is that how you spell his last name?)

"Come out, coward." Ino straightened. He stared at her. She stared back. "Hey," Ino said bending back over to test is a berry was poisonous. She broke it open and rubbed it on the bare inside of her wrist. It wasn't poisonous. She picked as many as she needed and looked up to see him still there.

"What do you want?" she asked. She had been training with Sasuke; some of his attitude must have rubbed off on her. "Your scroll," the white-eyed boy answered.

"…" Ino jumped off without a word. She pressed her chakra down so he couldn't fallow. She reached camp again within ten minutes. Shikamaru had caught about six fish. Hell, he should be good at it, it's extremely boring and he doesn't have to do anything. Chouji started a fire and Ino drew a seal around it to keep the smell and smoke in. After they ate Ino and Chouji started setting traps. They set enough to where nobody had to stay up. By then it was really dark. Ino was pulling back a tree branch; she tied it into place, and set some weapons on it before going back to camp and lying down.

It was hard for her to fall asleep in a comfortable bed. She kept turning over. Finally she stood. Both Shikamaru and Chouji were asleep. Ino took off into the forest for a walk; carefully avoiding the traps they set.

She walked and walked and walked. Finally she sat against a tree and pulled her knees up to her chest. She started crying. She didn't know why, she just felt like crying. Her whole body shook. It was over as soon as it began. Ino felt a very powerful, very evil chakra. She jumped towards to source. Her curiosity got the best of her.

_Curiosity killed the cat…_Ino smiled as that though came to mind. She hid in the trees and watched as a very creepy Sasuke attacked one of the Sound nins. Ino wanted to move but she was frozen in place. He suddenly turned to his to where she was sure he saw her. A rush of fear came through her. She took off. He was the scariest thing she had ever seen.

The last time he scared her was when he activated his Sharingan. She practically flew back to camp. She landed quietly and fell back against a tree, breathing hard. Her chest hurt. Lighting throbbed in the sky. Rain started falling heavily. It soaked through her clothes quickly and woke up Shikamaru and Chouji. They got up into the trees beneath the large layer of leaves. Ino wondered how the rain even got through the thick trees. She leaned against her backpack and closed her eyes.

_She was running, or jumping, though the trees. She was running from Sasuke. He was hot on her tail. He was covered in strange flame like marks. She wasted time looking back at him only for him to be gone. Within seconds he had her pinned against a tree. She was terrified. Ino thought it couldn't get worse. Guess what? Sasuke bit into her neck like a snake. Screams escaped her lips. _

"_INO…INO…INO!"_

She woke up to see both her teammates crouching near her. They looked worried. She had fallen from the tree and into the river. Sweat matted her bangs to her forehead. He breathing slowed. She stood slowly and put on her back pack. "W-we should go find a scroll," she managed to say as they walked further into the forest.

* * *

Me: wow that was FUN! To write!

Neutral: yeah…about that…you need to lay off the sugar.

ME: I do not eat _that_ much sugar.

Neutral: well, have you thought about drinking non caffeinated soda?

Me: HELL NO!

Angel: OH my head… (Collapses)

Devil: (Drops metal baseball bat) O-O wow evil Sasuke…Nice

Me: thanx!

Neutral: SHUT UP AND POST IT ALREADY!


	8. puppy

Okay for Crazy 4 Shika Nara she did actually see him with the marks and it scared her enough to have a nightmare.

* * *

Ino and her team ambushed a team from rain. The team was already wounded so it was easy. They reached the tower as the forth ones. Ino went directly to the bathroom to wash up. She was still covered in sweat.

She washed the dirt off her face and out of her hair. She looked in the mirror. The girl looking back smiled bitterly before slowly changing into a demon; blood pouring from her mouth, nose, and temples. She blinked and started splashing her face to snap her self out of the trance. She looked up at her frightened reflection; her nose was the only thing bleeding. Ino walked out the door wiping the blood from under her nose, not intently leaving blood on the counter next to the sink.

On the final day team seven arrived. They walked up onto the balcony and watched Sasuke fight the purple clad boy. He somehow won and was whisked away to have a seal put over the 'curse seal'.

The next round was Shino versus Zaku. She nearly recoiled as bug began to crawl all over Shino. She did finch when he blew the sound Nins arms completely off. Next was the sand puppeteer versus the other purple clad boy. It was hard to tell who would win until the sand guy knocked the other boy unconscious by making his puppet squeeze him. Next was her against Sakura.

She could hear her teammates complain as she stood ready to kick cherry blossom ass. And the match started. Sakura started off by throwing weapons. Ino easily dodged the weapons by stepping to the side. She wanted to end the match quickly, so she pulled a summoning scroll from that pouch thingy and bit her thumb. Sakura tried to stop her but she dodged while running her finger along the inside of the scroll.

Ino rolled it back up and preformed the proper hand seals. She slammed it into the ground and forced extra chakra into it. "Earth style summoning: angry rampage!" The floor behind her crumbled as fourteen earth elephants broke through. They charged Sakura, tossing her around. Ino stopped when the pink haired kunochi fell unconscious. "Winner, Yamanka Ino," the prospector coughed as Kakashi picked up Sakura and jumped up to where Naruto is.

Ino could feel the looks of all the people around her boring into her back as she landed next to Shikamaru. She could even feel the looks of her teammates and sensei for hurting her so called friend. Ino's eyes glazed over as the rest of the matches dragged on. She cheered for Shikamaru and Chouji. Soon she found herself trying to lesion as the prospector drew names for the final matches. She was against the guy who beat Chouji.

When she got home she saw her father. He was sitting at the dining table looking overworked. "Hi daddy," she greeted. He looked up at her and smiled. "Hi Ino-chan," he noticed the cuts all over her legs. She answered his question before he even asked, "I was in the Chunin exams."

Silence.

"How'd you do?" he seemed curious. "I made it to the final round…which is in a month," Ino sat across from him. "…that's great sweet-heart…" she heard him say. He suddenly brightened up; "I think you should get a ninja animal to help!" she was shocked at his sudden interest. "You can't go wrong with a dog!" he stood. "Come on!" he ran towards the pet store, dragging a very surprised Ino.

---------------Uh, three hours later----------------------

Ino's dad walked into his house with Ino and a golden lab puppy fallowing. They picked a lab puppy because labs are freakishly loyal. He dropped his bags on the table. The puppy went exploring. Ino had named her Suki. They put away the dog food and Ino put a light red collar on the puppy. The day went on with Ino teaching the dog where everything was in the house. Ino lay down on her bed; she wasn't even asleep when the small puppy curled up next to her neck. Training the small thing would be hard but Suki already knew sit, stay, and stop.

------------Next morning--------------

Ino woke up, showered, and got dressed for intense training. She feed herself and Suki. The dog happily fallowed her to her training ground. She trained physically while Suki jumped around. She begain training the dog in 'fetch'; the most common game was 'fetch the scroll' or 'fetch the kunai'. She told Suki to fallow while she started to jump, chakra enhanced, through the trees. Suki caught on quick and fallowed the large amount of chakra she was giving off. Finally she played hide and seek. Normally Suki locked onto her scent and found her. The only time Suki couldn't find her was when she hid in a Sakura tree.

Finally she did target practice. Suki always fetched the weapons that didn't hit the swinging object. When Ino got home she found a note that said,

_Ino,_

_Went on mission. Should be back in time for final match._

_Dad_

She worked the flower shop with Suki licking at her ankles. Sakura walked in and began talking to herself. Finally she bought two cut flowers and left. Ino closed the shop and told Suki to go home. Suki obeyed. Ino walked back to her training ground and started training. She wasn't surprised when Sasuke arrived. "You're supposed to be in the hospital," she stated pulling a kunai from the tree. "I need to train," he tossed a kunai. It went strait past her and stuck into the tree. She watched as the light from the sunset reflected dully off the metal and onto her face. She looked back. He was gone. "Baka," she muttered, smiling and pulling the knife from the tree.

She went home to eat, maybe play with Suki, and go to bed.

--------------------------30 days later--------------------

Ino was sitting next to Shikamaru waiting for the match to start. Her opponent was killed and she had to face the winner of the first match.

She watched as an idiot beat a genius. She had to face the idiot. She looked up into the stands. She noticed her father sitting in the back with Suki.

Her mind raced.

She turned to the blonde before her. And the match began.

* * *

hope you guys like it


	9. goodbye for now

Me: AH SHIT! I'm in a damn Writers BLOCK! Damn it all to HELL!

Neutral: calm down, you sound like Tayuya!

Me: really, thanks!

Neutral: that wasn't a complement…

Me:…(twitch) FUCK YOU!

Neutral: (to angel and devil) HIDE! She got out the machine gun!

Everyone cept Me: took cover behind random piece of building Calm Down!

Angel:crying why? Why US? WHY?

Devil: Slaps her to hell and back she has had TOO much caffeine!

All cept me: O-O…WE'RE GOING TO DIE!

Me: (sitting on the sofa) whacha doing over there?

Angel: Uh…nothing (don't wanna piss her off)

Me: (all innocent looking) Okay, could you get me some chips from the cabinet? I'm writing a chapter…

All cept me: walks out of the room to get some chips but most importantly, to get AWAY!

Ino looked at the idiot. He still seemed tired from his fight with Neji. This would be easy. She made a simple clone then made it perform a trapping earth jutsu. Mud came up and snaked around him. She preformed her handsigns and entered into his mind.

She searched his mind. In the walls she could see horrible memories. She couldn't believe how badly he was treated. She also saw some doubt that he had about Sakura. Finally she found a cage. Inside she saw a pair of crimson eyes. They fell onto her.

"_**Who are you?"**_

"Um…Yamanka Ino," Ino answered the booming voice.

"_**Yamanka, Huh? You must be the brats second opponent…you came in her for a weakness. No, you came in here to make him forfeit; I can't let you do that!"**_

An extremely powerful chakra that matched the eyes knocked her back. She hit a wall. She saw a creepy fox face behind the bars before passing out. Ino's mind was forced back into her body. The clone disappeared and the mud melted back into the ground. "Winner, Uzimaki Naruto," the guy said after Ino didn't get up. She awoke on a bench. Everyone else was out cold. She stood a bit wobbly. She took off, feeling a huge chakra.

By the time she got there all she could see was Sakura up in a tree, Sasuke was up there too, and Naruto and Gaara unconscious on the floor. Well Gaara was being taken away by his siblings. Sakura was busy over Sasuke, begging him to wake up. She saw some Anbu members helping Naruto. She decided to go to Naruto. By the looks of it he was the one who really fought Gaara. Her 'training buddy' could wait.

_Couple weeks latter, I know, I looked it up_

Ino walked around the hospital. She went up to the roof for some fresh air. The entire place smelled like cleaner. What she saw was a ton of Narutos. They were being demolished one by one by Sasuke. Across the roof she saw Sakura standing in the opposite doorway. She watched in shock as he and Naruto started to gather Chakra into their palms. Sakura suddenly started running forward screaming. But it was Kakashi who stopped them from killing Sakura; instead the attacks hit different water tanks. Kakashi soon took Sasuke away. Ino glanced at Sakura. She was on her knees and looked really sad.

Ino swallowed hard and turned, remembering the harsh words she told her former friend not two months ago. She started off. Wanting to escape more than anything. She body flickered to her house and went out on the roof. The sky was slowly turning a pinkish-orange. The entire thing made her fell lousier. She stood and went for a walk. She walked and walked…and walked. It was deep into the night. She knew her father would be upset if she stayed out really late. She sighed.

Ino looked up into the sky. It was pretty dark considering it was a new moon. She numbly traced out patterns in the stars mentally, totally oblivious to the world around her. She counted three different patterns before sensing someone getting closer. Ino came back to reality. There was the Uchiha Avenger in the flesh. WHAT AN HONOR! (snicker)

Ino spotted the backpack hanging on his shoulders. "You're leaving, aren't you?"

"Yes I am…are you going to stop me?" Sasuke answered, showing no emotion. "No, I'm not going to stop you…but what I want to know is what are you going to do after you kill your brother, I mean if you continue out the gates you'll be officially ranked as a missing nin and you won't be able to return. Are you just going to let that snake keep your body?" Ino mirrored his expression. Her eyes looked behind him where Sakura was lying unconscious on a bench.

"No, I'm still leaving though," Sasuke walked past her and stopped. "Ino…I want to know if-" "What am I on twenty questions now?" she asked it oh so innocently but the words fell like acid. She started walking in the other direction.

She stopped when a pair of pale arms encircled her waist pulling her back into the embrace of the raven haired boy. His breath was warm on her neck as he spoke.

"You should hate me, but…you don't, do you?" his voice was like ice. Her eyes stayed on the ground. "I don't know," her voice sounded spaced out. His lips were close to her neck. She felt a sharp pain in her neck. Her vision faded. Sasuke took the blonde back to her house and left her on the roof. Then he left.

**_THREE YEARS LATER_**

Ino pulled her ANBU mask over her face. She had excelled in the ranks. Going quickly from genin, to chunin, to Anbu interrogator.


	10. i hate you

Ino hid in the bushes. It was pretty nerve racking. Suki was next to her. In another hiding spot was Kiba and Akamaru. She was watching Ami. Ami had betrayed the village to…uh what ever the hell went through her mind was a misery to Ino.

She received a signal from Kiba to attack. She drew her sword and charged. Ami's 'partner' blocked the attack. Ino pumped chakra into the blade. It started eating through his metal arm protector. The man jumped back and was attacked by Kiba and Akamaru. Ino turned and faced Ami. Her forehead protector was tied to her forehead and had a long horizontal slash in it. Her hair was really long and her eyes were ablaze with hatred. A black cloak covered her entire body below the neck. Ino was sort of glad there weren't clouds it.

Ami raised both arms; pushing back the cloak. She wore a long black and red dress with slits on the side. Ami began throwing chakra scalpels at Ino. Ino dodged the flying objects. Ino stepped back and was slashed on the arms and sides. One of the scalpels sliced the pouch Ino held her summoning scrolls in. the dark green scroll hit the ground and unrolled. Ino, who was on her knees, watched blood from her wounds fall onto the words for her…monsters. She picked up the scroll and activated it. After performing the proper hand seals she slammed it into the ground. The ground around both Ino and Ami crumbled as smoke and Ino's summons emerged. They attacked Ami under the cover of the smoke. Both Ami and her partner tried to escape but Kiba knocked the man unconscious. The smoke cleared. Ino's summons were half wolf, half bear. They bowed to Ino before disappearing.

She looked over to see if Kiba was okay. He was sitting on top of the man's back and feeding Suki and Akamaru beef jerky. They checked their wounds, Ino having been trained slightly in medicine, and went to set up camp. Ino entered his mind. Apparently his name was Sámi and he was a missing nin from the hidden sound village.

He used to be a drug attic as well. He had a lot of bloody memories…in the sense he was the assistant of a doctor. She returned to her own body and they left the next day.

Ino had to extract information out of him using both methods over the next week. He normally told her what she asked for plus more. When asked why he simply said he was no longer under Sound's control. However, he refused to tell Ino about Ami; claiming that she saved him and her couldn't betray her.

When Ino went into his mind she saw the memories her wanted her to. Ino left Anbu head quarters and stumbled to her house. It was really close to the gate. She lived in a three story apartment building.

Ino heard a click, symbolizing her front door was unlocked. She entered, locked the door, and threw the keys on the floor. Then she leaned back on the door. Ino suddenly felt dizzy her eyes glazed over and she slumped down on the ground in a sitting position.

Sasuke jumped onto her balcony, slid the glass door open, and entered. Man, Ino need some curtains for the glass door. Well, anyway back to the story. He didn't even throw the knock out gas in there. He lifted her chin. There were dark circles under her eyes.

Sasuke lifted one of her eyelids. Her pupils were dilated. He picked her up and carried her to her room. Her bed was made; probably had been for a week. He noted how plain this place was compared to her old room. Sasuke put her down and noticed a knife on the table. The blood on it looked a few days old. He sighed before leaning over Ino and rolling up her sleeve. The scars were healed from years ago but they still showed. His eyes flicked to her upper arm. Carved jaggedly were the words

_I HATE YOU_

Half the U wasn't there as if she was interrupted. He straightened and scanned over her body for more wounds. None were visible. He left to return to sound.

Devil: who the hell is Ami?

Neutral: that girl that teased Sakura when she was younger

Me: whoa, I'm so unable to feel right now!

Angel: Is she high?

Neutral: yeah, on markers and glue

Me: dude, I need to stop smelling that shit! I swear I just saw a fireball fly past my face!

Sasuke: you made me mushy! FIREBALL! FIREBALL!

Me: I'm starven! I'm gonna go get some Ice cream.

Angel: get me some too!

Devil: me three.

Neutral: ditto.

_Please review_


	11. mission

Hey dudes and dudets! Waz up? Well, first off, I am _very_ sorry I haven't posted lately. Its just I have so much homework that it actually hurts! (Har har, cough, not funny) well anyway this is really late at night and I feel as if I should post this before I start working on my new idea. Wait, which one? I have tons of ideas and like twenty Ocs. T-T. anyway, again, I'm sorry I haven't posted lately. Okay! Too much talk, now on with the sorry (Story, sorry, type-o) oh and this story has implied kiba/ino and its about four years later.

* * *

Sasuke opened his eyes. The room he currently sat in was filled with smoke and the smell of sake. His vision was hazy. Partly because of the smoke, and partly because of the fact that he was sort of wasted. He was _trying_ to sober up but it didn't help that Kabuto kept ordering drinks for him (Sasuke). Maybe he was trying to get Sasuke extremely drunk, which was going very well, and kill him. Three of the seductive dancers went back behind a red silk curtain and three more came out. All of them had black hair and blue/green eyes.

They started dancing like the others did, swinging their hips and nothing else. Within a few minutes they switched. This was boring. Sasuke stood and went out for a smoke. Ha! Like they would have noticed. While out there he saw four of the dancers leaving in street clothes. He scoffed at them; their street clothes were exactly like the ones they danced in.

"INO! STOP!"

Sasuke whipped around. There was a man on his stomach, two large dogs pining him there, and a black leaf forehead protector with a large horizontal slash in it beside him. Standing near by was Ino and Kiba. Kiba, by the looks of it, was trying to restrain Ino. His arms looped tightly under her arms and his hands were on squeezing her shoulders. It looked more like he was hugging her because she had calmed down. Sasuke's blood boiled. He activated his Sharingan and was about to attack the damned dogbreath when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, hey, Sasuke! I wondered when you went. Come on. Lets go home," Kabuto said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Sasuke shrugged and fallowed. '_Damn. I must be drunk. Yeah that's it. I wouldn't just randomly attack a leaf ninja in public,' _Sasuke thought as they transported to the hidden sound village.

with Ino YAY

Ino sat in her apartment. An open notebook sat in front of her on the painfully plain table. She leaned back in her chair, a pen in her mouth. There were scrawls on the notebook, things like her family jutsus, fire and earth jutsus, to do list, and other things. She glanced over at Suki, who was chewing on a chew toy, and asked weakly, "What should I do?" she pointed to a mission scroll on the counter. She hadn't burned it because she hadn't even read it. All she knew was she was paired with dogbo- Kiba again. '_Tsunade must be trying to make a point.' _She thought. Suki let out a small whine. Ino got out of the chair and looked inside of the scroll noticing that it was just an escort mission. They had to escort a non-ninja medic to the land of rice. Supposedly the medicine was highly needed there.

She memorized the information and burned the scroll. She went to her room. Might as well try to get some sleep.

_Ino ran. That's all she could think of. She heard footsteps behind her. They sounded like a dogs. She turned and was slapped in the face with a clawed hand. She looked back at who had slapped her and saw tattooed cheeks and narrow, slited eyes. She tried to run but her ankles were tied down with shadows. Soon she found herself surrounded by most of the boys she knew. Naruto, Chouji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Lee, and Neji. As if on que they all started yelling at her. _

Ino shot up. That was the forth time she had had that dream. Except the other times it was longer. She stood and dressed. In the mirror she saw herself. Cream colored skin, blue eyes, short jagged dirty blonde hair. She had barely changed. Ino left. It was only five. She walked out to the memorial stone.

Ino placed four bouquets of red roses against it. She slid a hand over the four names carved at the bottom.

_Yamanaka Inoichi_

_Hanuro Sakura_

_Rock Lee_

_Akimichi Chouji_

They died in battle…in honor…killed by the Akatsuki.

Ino didn't believe that because Naruto killed them all when he took all of Kiba's solider pills…a year before that team was sent out. She had to stay behind because of some stupid reason she couldn't remember even though it had only been six months ago.

A sharp wind blew causing her to shudder. Sakura had finally agreed to marry Lee. (Ha! Oh the irony of that! sniff I made myself sad…) Chouji had a son with a Chunin. Hinata had married Gaara. Shikamaru married Temari. Neji was dating Tenten.

She sighed. So much was going on around her and her barley noticed when it was actually going on. Ino turned to go home and found herself looking at Naruto. "Hey," she said to the use to be happy-go-lucky nin. He responded with a weak smile. Ino couldn't think of anything to say so she bid him a polite good bye and walked past him back into the village.

She went home, gathered up her crap, called Suki and went to Kiba's house. He answered, even though it was early in the morning, looking tired, harassed, and dirty with a piece of toast in his mouth. She cocked an eyebrow as he motioned for her to come in and walked to the bathroom. Akamaru kept her and Suki company while Kiba cleaned up. He came out less dirty, but still tired and harassed looking, and picked up a backpack from the cluttered floor then left the house with her fallowing. He seemed to be sleepwalking because he kept walking into poles and tripping over his feet.

She slapped him when ever he'd fall to wake him up. Kiba obviously slept until noon. They were out of the village 20 minutes longer than she expected. The guards let the pass and they started off to the pick up village. The medic was a man about 40 with a large pack on his back. He greeted them and their dogs before they started on the three day walk to the land of rice.

* * *

(sighs) that took longer to write and sorry I haven't been posting lately, my mom said I can't get on during school days, but today isn't a school day! And neither will be the rest of the week! Wooo! (cough) I need ideas if any of you have some please send them to me. 


	12. Strawberries

A/N: dudes, my internet hasn't been working at all so I'm just gonna type this and post it when I get the 'net back. I have a library card so I've been reading reviews at the library. And a reader asked (nicely, demanding won't get you anything from me but a red cheek) for more fluff SO HERE IT IS!!! Later on in the chapter. blink I've got gummy worms and I'm not afraid to use them!

* * *

Ino frown deeply, wrinkles forming around her mouth. Her eyes wandered between the large amount of shadows that played out around them. "Ino, are you coming?" Kiba asked.

Her eyes snapped to him, a confused look taking place, before she realized she had stopped completely. Suki and Akamaru looked at her from either side of the man. She shook her head quickly before saying, "Oh, no, go on ahead, I wanna check something out. Suki, go with Kiba." Kiba shrugged and turned back to the path. The man and Akamaru fallowed suit. Suki looked at her with concern. Ino pointed to Kiba and mouthed 'Go'. Suki turned and trudged slowly after the group.

Ino jumped soundlessly into the nearest tree. Pumping chakra into her feet, she started off. Ino landed on a tree and ran up until she was balancing on the tip. She never really had good balance, and this was the hell of a time to loose what she had and fall. Her eyes scanned the sky and landscape beneath her. There was a river about thirteen feet to her left.

She looked back at the sky. Looking for…something. She was _not _paranoid. A large growl startled her and almost made her fall. She looked around. Something, it felt like a shoulder, crashed into her back, between her shoulder blades. She lunged forward. The feeling of free falling would have been great, if it hadn't been for the claws slashing and tearing at her shirt and back. In about twenty seconds the flesh on her back stopped looking like her back and more like ground beef.

Ino screamed and turned herself around to protect her now bloody and raw back. The Monster thing began slashing her chest and stomach. Ino reached for her kunai. The monster swatted her head with its paw, knocking her unconscious. She couldn't remember hitting the ground.

_Well I could be a bitch and make it a cliffy, but I refuse to do so. So on with the weirdness_

Ino's head hurt. It felt as if she had taken a mallet to the skull. And _was someone poking her?_ She slowly and painfully raised herself up. A little girl with black hair tied up into piggy tails stood next to her holding a stick. The girl tilted her head to the side and asked, "Are you awright?"

Ino smiled weakly, "I'm fine, there's no need to worry about me." The girl gave her a look before running off.

With a groan she got up onto her knees. She was in a river bed. A very muddy river bed. Her pants, arms, and what was left of her shirt was covered in thick brown mud. She lowered herself back into the water and watched the dirt be wiped away. She used chakra to heal all the wounds she could reach until it looked like someone had taken a large comb to her flesh. She examined the surrounding riverbed until she saw the remains of her backpack. The clothes inside were soaked but she wouldn't be able wear them anyway because they were shinobi clothes. And airtight box had protected her money, passport, first aid kit, and some of her weapons. Her scrolls and exploding tags were ruined. She bandaged her middle over the wounds she couldn't reach, reluctantly pulled on a plain black shirt and hoisted her almost empty backpack onto her back; leaving the ruined ninja tools behind on the riverbank. When the moon rose, the tides would heighten and wash them away.

The town she was in was more modern than the Hidden Leaf village. Subway entrances and bus stops were scatted where people didn't walk. And the streets were so crowded that it would be no small feat to go a couple of blocks without getting knocked in some direction. Ino quickly found a clothing store. The clothes had a laidback theme. It took her a few tries to find jeans that would hide her weapon hoisters and look stylish (she was still a girl). The shirt was easier; it was cold so she could get away with layering. She paid for her clothes and left the cozy store.

Ino got a hotel room for a day. All she needed to regain her strength. Changing into her new civilian clothes, and concealing a few weapons, if they were needed, and went back into the crowded streets of the city. This place was unlike Konahona, crowded, busy, everyone had something to do. The shops that lined the street didn't sell weapons or poison. As she passed an outside café, none of the conversations she heard was about the best way to assassinate someone. The children weren't worried about ninja training. It was nice. Maybe…she would stay. There wasn't any family tying her down in the Hidden Leaf village. But she still had friends there.

Would they notice? It would just be another ninja that disappeared on a miss-hey! A Sweets shop! Ino turned into the warm, sweet-smelling store.

Sasuke trudged down the street. The crowd sort of parted for him…awesome. He had achieved the Makeyo Sharingan about a month ago. And it was all thanks to a sound ninja named Shinji. Sasuke befriended Shinji to a level nobody but Naruto reached. Yes, Thanks Shinji…Shinji was currently lying face down in a shallow, unmarked grave fifty miles away from the sound village. Orochimaru did notice that the ranks were minus one. Ah, Orochimaru, the world's dumbest smart guy. The old snake seemed happy Sasuke was stronger. When asked why, he simply stated that Sasuke _needed_ to get stronger, to defeat Itachi.

It was true Sasuke wanted to get revenge on Itachi, but there was another reason…

"_Okay, great Uchiha Avenger, get the highest level of Sharingan, and I'll give you…a kiss," Ino laughed. _

Well, she was probably out of her mind when she made the promise. But Sasuke liked hold people to their word. Now where was she? He'd smelled lotus for about an hour now. But there were just too many damned blonde women in this city. Sasuke frowned, racking his brain for details on Ino. Blonde hair, blue eyes, which was the basics of her looks, both of which weren't very rare.

A woman wearing a hat stopped. She pulled the back of her shirt up slightly. Pressing her fingers against her own flesh, she winced and retracted her hand, blood dripping down her fingers. She yanked the back of her shirt back down but not before Sasuke caught glimpse of a mark. A tattoo, one he remembered very vividly. The woman turned into a nearby (convenient) deserted ally way. Turning into the ally way as well, he fallowed her.

Living in the Hidden Sound village, he knew that sound traveled.

"Ino." It was almost a growl, very low, but she heard it. Stopping cold in her tracks she slowly looked over her shoulder. She looked ready to run. But as always, his speed preceded him and in a flash he was in front of her. Sasuke had caught her, gripping her shoulders and pressing his lips to hers. He released her after about a minute and relocating to a nearby roof. Smirking, he watched her. She started, apparently shocked, at the place where he had stood, fingers pressed to her lips, then she ran back to the crowded streets. He lost sight of her after several seconds.

Still smirking, he started back to the Hidden Sound village. He licked his lips several times before placing the taste. _Strawberries._

---------

Well, I hope that satisfied you guys! Cause I'm taking a break to wait for the next idea (or suggestion wink wink) to hit me like piece ice down tha back of the pants! Yahoo!!!! I GOT THE INTERNET BACK:)

_sakiya_


	13. tea, blood, and hospitals

_**Stories painted on Porcelain **_

!#$&()+)(&$#!

_Pit_

_Pat _

_Pit _

_Pat_

Small drops of water hit the glass as if they could get in to the dark and slightly chilly dwelling. It smelled strongly of copper. Rotten tea leaves. That was what the brownish-green liquid he tasted in his mouth was similar to. He stood from his pace for the last three-hours and poured five teaspoons of sugar into his porcelain mug along with more tea from the kettle.

Sasuke returned to his spot and drained the cracked mug without a second thought. Poison? Drugs? Well, she wasn't drinking any tea...A smash a good meter away from his feet alerted him to the fact that he now held the only cup in the house that wasn't shattered beyond repair. He frowned at the pieces and spreading liquid then raised his gaze to across the room. At least she didn't hit him with it like last time.

_Pit_

_Pat _

_Pit _

_Pat _

_Clank. Tap. Tap-clank. Thud. Clank. Tap. Thump. _

"Stop it." He commanded to her. She stared at him as if he just sprouted another head. Then she went back to taping her kunai on the metal bar of the bed she sat on. _Tap. Tap. Tap. Thud._

"Stop," he commanded again. Ino lifted herself off the mattress and started towards him. _Clank_. The chains on her wrist stopped her halfway off the bed. She looked at it and then sank backwards. _Thud._ If she kept this up, she'd have a lump the size of a baseball on the back of her head. Ino touched the back of her head with her unchained hand, pulled it back, and looked at it. Checking for blood, he decided.

Sasuke held up his cup and stared at it instead of the woman in front of him. Slightly cracked. Painted black with purple clouds on it. The paint had faded and chipped in places. _Thud-thump. _He glanced in her direction. She had finally stopped and rested on her side. Sasuke put his cup in the sink; sure it would be gone by the time he came back. He checked to make sure Ino hadn't knocked herself unconscious. He pulse had dropped to fifty but she looked at him none the less, unblinking at first.

Sasuke took her kunai with him and left, leaving the window open for the mutt.

It was raining harder than it had been in a while. Kiba noticed. His sweatshirt hood didn't block the pelting water that entirely well. The temperature was unnatural for spring. Forty degrees and raining hard enough to break windows. Defiantly unnatural. Akamaru wined and begged until Kiba let him stay inside.

He has to lock Suki in his house so she didn't fallow him. It was kind of like a few months ago when Ino disappeared. Suki was so distracted Kiba barely finished the mission before she took off in a totally random seeming direction. He followed her of course. He was worried too, but Ino was a former ANBU, as was he, and she could handle herself. He thought Ino went back to the village after 'checking something out'. But he found Suki. And Suki had found Ino. She was in the thickest part of the forest, as if hoping the dense trees and shrubs would keep something away.

Her face was red, like really red. But he took it as being exposed to the cold of winter. She seemed semiconscious, only bringing up a defensive position after he grabbed her arm. Staring at him like a vague memory, she finally dropped her guard and let him pick her up. Suki seemed a little upset but followed him and Akamaru back to the village anyway.

Tsunade kept her in the hospital for the injuries he hadn't even noticed. A few weeks after releasing her, she subscribed a light anti-depressant. He didn't think she need one but still counted her pills from time to time, to make sure she was actually taking them. Which was what he was doing tonight.

Ino's window was open. It was raining and the window was open…? Kiba leaped up to the sill. Dark and fragrant. Fragrant. That's the only word he could think of. Blood, roses, and bad tea, smelly would work, too. There were other scents but he couldn't place them. Kiba slipped on something of the floor. Balancing himself on the table he turned on the lamp. Murky liquid on the floor. It looked like tea mixed with something scarlet. Blood, his gut told him. The pieces of what looked like a cup crunched underfoot and he went to the bathroom. Ino's subscription bottles were on the sink counter along with two other bottles. One said non-aspirin and the other was unmarked. All of them were empty. Maybe she overdosed, or maybe she just finished them and didn't go to get a refill. He checked the tag on her subscription bottles.

She had the refilled last week. He ran his claw through some caked on white stuff on the sink drain. It cracked and a big piece came up. Like she dumped them in the sink then turned in the water. He dropped it back in and walked back into her bedroom. Smelled weird. He could place the smell now. It was like cologne. A dude.

Ino was chained to her bed. He almost passed out. WHAT THA HELL HAPPENED HERE!!!???? At least she's dressed, his conscious pointed out. She seemed to be were the blood was coming from. It caked her arms and the sheets of the bed. Kiba used his chakra to burn through the chains and took her to the hospital.

The nurses weren't surprised to see her again.

-------

Ino could feel something crawling up her throat even though she was flat on her back. It flowed into her mouth and overwhelmed her taste buds. It tasted coppery but she tried to swallow it. No use. The fluid seeped from between her lips and stained her shirt.

She rolled over on her side and clutched her abdomen, coughing up the fluid so she didn't choke. Ino realized that she was sweating so much her hair was plastered to her skin.

"Ughh."

_It really hurts! _


	14. Kiba gets worried and Ino gets a kiss

!#$&()+)(&$#!

Kiba frowned as he crushed two white pills into powder with a spoon. He picked up the saucer and scraped the powder into the mug. He then poured in hot water and coco powder. Stirring it with the spoon, Kiba stowed the pill bottle in the cabinet. Even though he was pretty sure Ino knew he laced her drinks with medication, he still hid them in his kitchen. It was easier to make sure she was taking her meds, Tsunade's orders. He was also sure she needed these pills because they weren't for depression; they were for her 'condition', as Tsunade called it.

She was in the hospital for at least a week getting stitches and blood transfusions after he found her. She was out for a few days. Then, something happened and she was back in. Kiba brought her in, as usual. He sometimes wondered if he was the only ninja, much less person, in the entire village that cared for her health, both physical and mental. They were training when she just collapsed, shaking and coughing up blood.

By the time he actually got her to the hospital, she didn't want to go because she hated the place, she hadn't stopped shaking and the coughing escalated to blood stained vomit. Tsunade started freaking out, asking things like 'have you noticed her eating or drinking anything strange' and 'has something happened over the last few days that would cause something like this' while she held a glowing green hand over Ino abdomen.

'No,' he lied.

Kiba made himself a cup of hot chocolate as well, washing the spoon off before he mixed in the powder. He took both his and Ino's cup with him into the living room. Ino sat with her legs crossed, Suki's head on her lap. He handed the right mug to her and took a drink of his own. Ino looked into the cup and at Kiba, then she drained it in two gulps and opened her mouth to show that it was empty.

She _defiantly_ knew. Ino ran her hand through her hair and Kiba found himself unconsciously counting the scars on her arm. Thirteen scars were still visible on her pale flesh. He knew there would be at least two inches of scar tissue if he cut open her forearm.

At least she started to take her anger out on inanimate objects instead of herself or him. The tree in their usual training ground had about eleven inches of bark missing. Kiba proceeded to drinking his chilled cocoa when she noticed he was staring at her wrists.

He soon found the metallic coppery taste of blood in his drink and stared into it, wondering if the wound on his thumb had reopened. The open flesh was streaming slowly with the fluid. Kiba stood and went to the bathroom to dump out his drink and bandage his finger. After at the brownish liquid went down the drain he washed his hand and got out a roll a cloth bandaging.

Kiba breathed deeply when he was done with his hand. He hated the smell of his own blood. All blood smelled different, but his had a pacific stink that made his stomach lurch. Ino's blood made him feel light-headed.

The same way not eating had. Speaking of which, his empty stomach lurched again. Kiba soon found himself hunched over the toilet, vomiting. This happened every time he didn't eat for more than six hours. Standing up and wiping his mouth, Kiba took the left door to the kitchen and got some beef jerky.

"Hey, Ino do you want something to eat?" He called. No answer, then-

_**SMASH!**_

Kiba dropped the bread and grabbed a kunai knife that was sitting on the counter. (It's good to be prepared) He bolted back into the living room. Sliding on water that came from somewhere, he lost his balance and toppled over. Jumping up, Kiba searched for what caused the crash that put a huge ass hole in his wall. Or Who.

Uchiha was in his living room. The traitor, bastard that everyone was hunting, was in his living room. Pinning Ino to the ground and kissing her by what Kiba could see.

Kiba stared for a few moments before flinging the kunai at the rouge ninja. Uchiha caught it easily. He lifted himself off Ino, who was conscious, and turned to face Kiba. His ink black eyes turned red and he lunged at Kiba, who dodged.

A slicing pain in his shoulder told him that his dodge had been only partially successful. Kiba instead got Ino and jumped out the hole in the wall.

But somehow Sasuke caught up with him (you really mustn't underestimate your opponent, Kiba-kun) and used some lightning base attack to shock the hell out of him. Being in mid-air when this happened, he fell all dramatic-like while Sasuke stole a drowsy Ino away.

!#$&()+/+)(&$#!

A/N: O.o wow this story got off track horribly. Man I thought I'd have to change the entire plot…whew, glad there was an opening. How you enjoy. Send me a pm if you have any Ideas.


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